Figtree head coach Michael Coleman believes his club is well placed to hold off signings raids from rivals as the Kangaroos aim to complete the premiership three-peat in 2023.
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The next South Coast AFL season may be months away, but Coleman - who last week signed on for his third year as coach - has already begun the process of aiming to retain the Roos' talent.
"I've managed to ring around and have a chat with most of our players to keep them. That's our main focus as a club, to keep the players we've got, before we try and strengthen our ranks from outside," Coleman said.
"It looks like the majority of our players are staying on board, which is really nice. There's always a few of the younger ones which we encourage to try their hand at better footy up in Sydney, especially while they're young. I think everyone looks back and thinks 'maybe I should have tried to play at that higher standard', so we might lose a couple of them. But the majority of our players are pretty keen to stay."
The 2023 season shapes as a big one for Figtree, who will aim to claim their third successive SCAFL title.
The run began in 2020 under the guidance of previous mentor Will Ryan, when the Kangaroos thumped the Bulldogs by 104 points on grand final day. Coleman then took over the reins the following year, however, the COVID competition was cancelled due to COVID.
The action returned this year, despite the consistent threat of rain. The Roos took top spot during the regular season before holding off a gritty Dogs outfit in September's decider, prevailing by 24 points to claim their second successive premiership.
"We thought we took a pretty big step this year, but the Bulldogs were very impressive. In the middle of last year, they beat us, and this year as well. They're a much better team and they took some big strides as well," Coleman said.
"It was also pretty impressive to see Shellharbour and the Tigers do the same, so there's no doubt that when you're on top, you're the one that's being targeted. And the way they've been improving the last couple of years, those teams will be right behind to challenge us next year."
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Joshua Bartlett
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
